Local governments in Central Visayas should identify the areas where they can set up their own community based intelligence networks to monitor suspicious characters within their area.
In yesterday’s Regional Peace and Order Council meeting, undersecretary Austere Panadero of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said the local governments should station these networks in coastal and mountain areas.
“The information coming from the communities can serve as intelligence report. Like what Bohol did. The information was immediately relayed (to the provincial government),” Panadero said.
The residents of Barangay Napo in Inabanga town of Bohol immediately reported to their barangay officials the presence of armed men who turned out to be Abu Sayyaf bandits last April 10.
The barangay officials then reported the sightings to the Inabanga municipal government which then coordinated with the police and military to deal with the bandits.
Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto said it had been a mandate for local governments to set up barangay or village intelligence networks, and he already set this up through their purok system.
Through their purok system, Chatto said the communities can easily report and relay information to the authorities for speedy action and resolution.